Giorgio Canali & Rossofuoco
Rojo

Ok, this is my first review.

Ok, I'm clearly biased given my nickname, but I'll give it a try.

Giorgio Canali and his Rossofuoco are back, two years after "Nostra signora della dinamite," the intent to release 2 albums in 12 months failed, due to the typical writer's block "What can I do if I look around and the only thing I can write is porcodio?".

Finally, the block has passed, and Rossofuoco have returned more spirited compared to their last work and with higher quality production.

The album starts with "Regola #1," an angry song like in the old times, but it lacks something to reach the high levels we are used to. The following "Ci Sarà" is the most "commercial" track on the album, energetic, and if it were done by a random Ligabue, it would surely top the sales charts; it's to be taken lightly, but it deserves a lot. In this piece, you start to hear the harmonicas, which have always characterized Canali, but never as much as in this "Rojo."

"La solita tempesta" features a duet with Angela Baraldi, following the collaboration with Giorgio on the Joy Division cover tour (I hope they make an album of it eventually). It’s a melancholic ballad with a chorus that sticks in your head right from the first listen and never leaves. Then comes the masterpiece of the album "Carmagnola #3," a great rock piece with an excellent Canali-style text and a crescendo finale, with choruses first in French, then in Spanish, and finally in Italian.

The album then continues with the sweet ballads "Controvento" and "Treno di Mezzanotte," the first well-done, the second a bit less (the least successful of the album), interspersed with the polemical tones of "Morire di Noia," a somewhat lackluster rock that doesn't add much to the album. Following this, there is the beautiful "Sai Dove," a rock anthem to secularism where the tones get angrier and culminate in a cutting chorus that immediately sticks in your head.

"Un Crepuscolo Qualunque" feels the wave influence from the Joy Division cover tour, while "Rivoluzione strategica #6" returns to classic rock rhythms, winking at the Stones and resembling Bennato a bit in the singing. The album closes with "Orfani dei cieli," a beautiful ballad that seems lifted from the previous "Nostra signora della dinamite," the most successful of many present on the album.

In conclusion, this "Rojo," creates a middle ground between the early Rossofuoco, those angry rockers with strong punk influences, and the latter, more intimate and melodic. All supported by excellent production, probably the best ever used by the group, which, however, takes away a bit of the genuineness from Canali and company's good dirty rock. Unfortunately, you notice some missteps to which Giorgio & Co had not accustomed us, but considering the uninspired period Canali admitted to being in and that the rest of the album remains musically of the highest level and lyrically always high, even in the weakest pieces, we can say that the result is definitely positive.